Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sojourner1]

One of my co-teachers have requested I take roll and say each of their Romanized Korean names. Problem is I can't say them correctly and the students feel offended when they hear their own name and often laugh if it's not their own name. Many also mock me too which I hate. Correct pronunciation is very important to Koreans which is why we have great difficulty getting understood when we speak Korean. It's impossible to Romanize the correct sounds of many Korean names and other words.

In English, you can make pronunciation mistakes and still be understood, but not in Korean. How do you handle this?

[CentralCali]

First off, it's not your job to take attendance. It's the co-teacher's job.

Second, if you can't read Hangeul, it's even pointless to try to do their names in Korean unless you're familiar with the Romanization system. It is possible to Romanize all the sounds of the Korean language.

Third, if you're into this and the co-teacher agrees, you can assign them Western names and use that for the roll book. I had to use a Spanish name in Spanish class in junior and senior high and a Vietnamese name in Vietnamese class at DLI, so it's not an unheard of concept in foreign language instruction to use names from the target language.

[Smee]

Bad idea, bad bad bad. If you can learn the names of some students, and call them by that if you see them in the hall of if you're helping with an assignment, then fine. But reading off a list of names is just asking for trouble. My pronunciation is pretty good but I struggle with a couple, and when I do it's an invitation to mock me, and even the coteacher laughs. When I write "girl" on the board and ask them to say it, they don't really get the point. It's your coteacher's job to take attendance, and maybe your job to try and show that it's okay to have different pronunciations. After all, haven't you ever heard a Korean approximate English?

[sojourner1]

My co-teacher provided me the Romanized names so they may be incorrect. I'm not very good with reading and speaking Korean as pronunciation is difficult and native Korean speakers just get confused or mildly offended with mispronunciation. I don't care about nonnative speakers of English mispronouncing when they're trying to speak English as I usually can understand a million variations. That's the beautiful feature of English that makes it a great global language. Other languages are usually not this flexible though English might once had been a very rigidly spoken language hundreds of years ago in England. It's really a culture thing on how rigid speakers of a language are about it's pronunciation, syntax, and logic. Koreans need to lighten up a bit if they're going to do this globalization and liberalization thing.


Yes, I think it's a bad idea to call out Korean names in class unless you're very very good at it. When I taught in hagwon, the kindy students did have English names, but not most elementary and middle school students. I noticed about half of my 1st and 2nd grade classes have English names which are probably from kindy hagwon.

Most students don't comprehend nor want English names as they know they already have a name used in everyday life and that's that. You can get em' easy when they're very young such as kindy, but less so when they get older. I don't feel comfortable coming in imperialistic fashion trying to force a name change and giving the impression I think their names and language is inferior. Students easily get confused due to the communication barrier and it takes a good co-teacher to iron things out.

The other thing is I really couldn't remember all these names to their faces from a hole in the wall even if they were English names, but the Korean names are very difficult for me.

In PS, I tend not to focus on remembering names, but on teaching English.

[Faunaki]

If you must read their names, get them in Korean, that way you can pronounce them properly. With English you've a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

[tefain]

[poet13]

Every student has a number. You can call the numbers. On the other hand, every chair is usually filled. If theres an empty chair, I ask what the students number is. Attendance taken.

[nomad-ish]

taking attendance is your co-teacher's job, just tell her that you are supposed to be co-teaching with her and you prefer if she does the roll call every class.

kids are kids, but i personally find it extremely disrespectful when my co-teachers join the kids in giggling about my korean pronunciation or something involving me. it shows either: incorrect pronunciation is to be laughed at (which is a bad idea, considering i'm trying to make the kids less afraid to speak in class) or i'm in the class solely for their amusement (how can you hope to learn from someone if you have very little respect for them?). either way, your co-teacher is acting very unprofessionally.

as for trying to learn their names, even if they used english names, it's
damn near impossible if you're teaching as many students as most PS teachers do (for example, i teach over 1400 students).

don't worry about taking attendance and don't worry about remembering every student's name

[antoniothegreat]

like others said, you shouldnt have to take attendance. most korean teachers dont, they just ask "is anyone not here?"

next, like others said, it is important to get the names in korean. a perfect example is the word hangeul itself. looking at the english, you cannot tell if it is "han geul" of "hang eul" and the placement of the G is very important. also, there are other things like is it "han ge ul" or "han geul" as EU as one sound but E then U has another sound.

lastly, i hate it when my kids laugh at my korean as well. you need support of your coteachers with this, but i will scold them for it. i will ask them if i am korean or american. then ask them who there can speak PERFECT english. then ask them if i laugh at them when they make mistakes. ask them if they think i dont laugh because i understand english is not their native language or because they speak it all perfectly. then finally i give a great example, like someone else said, "girl." they dont say the R and change the I sound to a soft U sound. I will write that, have them all say it, have individuals say it, then tell them that they are ALL wrong, that way they can understand how often they say mistakes, but i refuse to laugh at them.

of course, most of them wont understand all of what you say, so you then should have the korean teacher translate it for them.

if the korean teacher laughs too, i would talk privately about it. ask them how they expect the students to not laugh if the teacher is laughing. that just promotes their unacceptable behavior. again, point out that you do not laugh at their bad english because that would undermine their authority, which is exactly why they must not do that to you.

of course, if you are really upset, or do not get coteacher help, then just laugh every time anyone says something wrong. that is the "i am pi$$ed off and now you are going to pay for it method"

lastly, if you have some kind of discipline system, like stars, demerits, etc, penalize EVERYONE when they laugh.

i have a countdown until kids get punished, they start at 5, every time i say stop talking, i count down on the board. when they hit 0, they are all punished. so i will erase one point if they laugh at my korean.

hope this helps

[OiGirl]

Do university teachers call roll?

[crusher_of_heads]

I make them write out their names in English, and I tell them that IF I say it incorrectly, please correct me as I would not want to be impolite.

Of course, I use that-if they ever don't have their names at the ready on their desks, they copy out a friendly reminder written on the board multiple times; today it was "This will help me to never forger my nametag in English class ever again." times 10

It's a blessing-your coteacher obviously needs to be put in its place.

It's true, stupid komerican, it's damn true.

[Voyeur]

I think that you have to try it if your co-teacher wants you to.

You can outline your objections, but preface it by saying you wil;l still do it if they want.

Then, after you have tried it for ahwile, if it is not working, you can come down harder against doing it.

That would be my play at least.

[crusher_of_heads]

[Hank the Iconoclast]

I'd walk out of the class if my co-teacher started to laugh at me with the kids. Unbelievable.

[Teelo]